Simulation of nonisothermal reactive liquid chromatography using two-dimensional lumped kinetic model

A nonisothermal two-dimensional lumped kinetic model of reactive liquid chromatography is formulated and applied to simulate the separation of multicomponent mixtures in a fixed-bed cylindrical column operating under nonisothermal condition. The axial and radial variations of concentration and temperature as well as reversibility of the chemical reactions are incorporated in the model equations. The model comprises a system of convection-diffusion-reaction partial differential equations coupled with algebraic and differential equations. Due to the nonlinearity of adsorption and reaction kinetics, it is required to apply an accurate numerical scheme for solving the model equations. In this study, an efficient and accurate high-resolution flux-limiting finite-volume scheme is proposed to solve the model equations. A number of stoichiometrical reactions are numerically simulated to determine the level of coupling between the temperature and concentration profiles. Moreover, the effects of various critical parameters on the process performance are examined. The results obtained are beneficial for understanding reaction and separation processes inside a liquid chromatographic reactor and to improve its performance.